Better Boy and Supersweet 100.

I grew both in the fall with mixed feelings about both varieties and want to see how they do in the spring.

I did produce a lot of fruit from both varieties, harvested over a long period of time, which is nice. Two plants (one of each) did not produce much and failed early. I thought they were in the best location due to sunlight, but root knot nematodes did them in. Won't plant there again.

Fruit splitting was a big problem with the better boys... hopefully, a spring planting will have less of that.

For paste/plum, going mostly with hybrids (anything to help hold back the BER)
Viva Italia
San Marzano Gigante 3
Super Sauce (the Burpee Catalog made me do it:-))
Tony's Italian

Prue
Kosovo
Kalman's Hungarian Pink
Red Boar
Pink Berkley Tie-Dye
Ananas Noir

Bella Rosa
Big Beef
Kellogg's B-fast
Pantano Romanesco
Arkansas Traveler
Amazon Chocolate
Black Krim
Cherokee Purple
Earl's Faux
German Johnson PL
Lemon Boy
Better Boy
Brandy Boy
Early Girl
Lucky Cross or VA Sweets
Rutgers

Peace Vine Cherry
Black Cherry
Sun Gold
Sweet 100 (maybe)

And have around 160 superhot, hot, and sweet peppers already under lights. Hmm. And a pop-up greenhouse with . . . Sluggo Plus, lol. Peace. Annie

This year, I decided to mix it up. I am planting:

Park's Whopper (improved)
2 varieties of Beefsteak
1 Better Boy
Mrs Maxwell's Big Italian
San Marzano

I will be growing:

Red Furry Boar
Amos Coli
Sweet Solano
Gypsy
Indian Stripe
Black Plum
Hillbilly
Cherokee Purple
Black Cherry
Gruntvii Griboskiy 1180
Ceylon
Nebraska Wedding
Sungella
Golden Grape

I have a fre more but thats most of them. I will be growing half of each.kind in pots and the other half in the ground.

10 of "Ramapo F1 hybrid" by Rutgers
5 of "4th of July hybrid" - by Burpee

3 - (thinking about a Black Krim? or some kind of Tasty Yellow or off color tomatoe?)

Zone - 6 - Philladelphia/Trenton area

This post was edited by thebutcher on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 15:50

Yellow Pear
Japanese Trifele Black
Chalk's Early Jewel
Principe Borghese
Martino's Roma

Paul Robeson x4
Hillbilly/Flame x4
Black Cherry x2
Sweet 100 Cherry x1
Big Boy x 6
San Marzano x ~45
San Marzano #2 x ~20
Green Zebra x 6
possibly some others, but these are the for sures.

It's just me and the dog (he loves tomatoes - grrr). I'm putting in -
Brandy Boy
Black Krim
Cherokee Purple
Sunsugar (or Sungold, if I can't find seeds locally)

thebutcher, you must try Black Krim. If I could only grow one, that would be it.

I just started my seeds and can hardly contain my excitement. I am growing one each of the following in 25-gallon smart pots with Texas Tomato Cages:
Brandywine, Sudduth
Brandy Boy
Mortgage lifter, Estler
Stump of the World
Kosovo
Earl's Faux

And one each of the following in 20-gallon smart pots with Burpee XL Pro tomato cages:
Goose Creek
Jetsetter
Cherokee Purple

I just got additional seeds in trade that I'm going to save for next year. If some of my seeds don't sprout within a week, these are my back ups:
Black Krim
Pruden's Purple
Arkansas Traveller

I've started my seeds indoors. It is officially tomato season therefore the weather must improve.

This year:
Jaune Flamme
Opalka
Cherokee Purple
Mortgage Lifter
KBX
Black Cherry
Sungold

@ monet_g

I was thinking about the Black Krim last week, I should of ordered it then before my vacation, but per your advice and seeing the majority of posts are growing them it I made my mind up and ordered 30 seeds just now for about $2.

Today I am starting my "Ramapo" and "4th of July" tomatoe seeds 10 and 10 in peat pellets. The delivery for Black Krim should take 3-5 business days then will start them.

SO now my updated list is:

1. Ramapo F1 Hybrid
2. Fourth of July Hybrid
3. Black Krim Heirloom

About 10 of each

Many thanks for the advice.

This post was edited by thebutcher on Thu, Mar 14, 13 at 13:45

I have a small garden with just 2 celebrity plants and I'm new to gardening so I'm very interested in other people's experiences with these plants and their tomatoes. They have already grown from 5 inches to 16 Inches in just a month.

the butcher, I'm glad you are going to grow BK.

I noticed that you're using peat pellets. Most people don't have very good luck with them. For me, I always had damping off. I now start my seedlings in styrofoam coffee cups in a seed mix/medium. I put them on heat inside a plastic bag. Once they germinate I remove the bag, pull them off the heat and place them under lights. Once they're growing along well (~4 weeks old), I move them up to beer cups. Then, I'll plant them out 2 to 4 weeks later - after hardening them off.

There's different ways of doing it, but this has worked well for me (and many others). There's been a lot of discussion here on the pains of the peat pellets.

Good luck,
Gail

This post was edited by monet_g on Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 10:09

this years list:
Cour di Bue
Pantano Romanesco
Red Pear
Chianti Rose
Pineapple
Hillbilly
Brandywine
San Marzano Lungo No. 2
Glacier
sungold

This post was edited by pasco on Tue, Mar 26, 13 at 22:05

Brandy Boy - Better Boy - Super Marzano - German Giant - Sweet Baby Girl. They are off to a good start in our cold climate !

{{gwi:291797}}

I am so ridiculously jealous of those who have access to great starts or the foresight to order ahead. I guess I'll have to try again for fall!

At this point, the scrawny ones from Home Depot are about the same size as the much nicer ones I bought from Arborgate two weeks later.

Early girl
Heinz super roma
Homestead
Roma Juliet
Cherokee purple x2
Sweet 100
Roma
Red pear
Viva Italia x2
San Marzano
Reisentraube
Patio

Black Krim (always)
SuperSauce (the catalog picture got me, too)
Marianna's Peace
Anna Russian (always)
Amish Paste
Cherokee Purple
Stupice
Box Car Willie
Marglobe
Great White
Andrew Rahart
Mortgage Lifter
Florida Pink

I just started seeds today, and so far I have:

Kellogg's Breakfast
Estler's Mortgage Lifter
Brandywine Sudduth
Fish Lake Oxheart
Linnies Oxheart
German Red Strawberry
Sophie's Choice (will probably go in a Pot)
Wes
Black Cherry
Cherokee Purple Heart

I still plan to start:
Kosovo
Danko
Orange Minsk
Anna Russian

Only about 7-8 can fit in the garden, but I have about 6 large pots, including 3 20 gallon grow bags I just ordered. 5 of these are new for me, so this should be an interesting year. I hope they are as good as I have heard.

Hi, I just started:
Aunt Gertie's Gold, 6 seeds
Black Russian, 6
Gold Nugget (cherry), 6
Druzba, 6
Bloody butcher, 6
Brandywine Sudduth, 4
Tasmanian chocolate, 8
Sun sugar, 2
Cuore Di Bue, 11 ( apparently this is different from cuor Di Bue)
Black from Tula, 12
Iditatrod, 9
Orange Strawberry, 6

I have no idea what will happen. It's been a long time since I started my own seeds, so here's hoping!
Sharon

Lime Green Salad
Mountain Gold Hyb
Bella Rosa
Super Tasty Hyb
Bush Early Girl
Northern Exposure
Brandy Boy
Ball's Beefsteak
Goliath
Green Cherokee
Cobra Hyb

Sun Gold
Juliet
Black Cherry

Super Sauce
Yaqui Hyb

So many of you have space for so many varieties, I am so envy! I bought all these plants this year and am still trying to figure out where to plant them - looking for suggestion!! Please refer to my post: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0416213619765.html

Some will probably be sacrified and be put under shade or extreme tight space:

Black Krim
Black Cherry
Black Prince
Sukura
Stupice
Roma
Early Girl
Sweet 100
Yellow Pear
Sun Cherry
Sun Gold

Ramapo
Kelloggs Breakfast
Big Beef
Sweet Chelsea
Jaune Flamme
Sungold
Black Krim
Eva's Purple Ball
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green
Rosella Purple
San Marzano 2
Arkansas Traveler
Pantano Romanesco

I always love these threads, even though I don't grow as many as everyone else! :)

Most of my toms this year will be the F3 of a variety I want to de-hybridize, so that doesn't leave much garden space for tonnes of other varieties. However, I will make room for a couple each of:

Anna Russian
Applause (favourite)
Black Krim
Polish Linguisa
San Marzano

The kids want a tomato in their little garden area, so I'm starting Juliet for them. It's too sweet for my taste, but I have the leftover seed and the kids like sweet and prolific, so they can have it.

I love these threads, too. It's nice to see that I'm not alone in loving Black Krim.

It seems like many are growing Jaune Flamme. I'll have to look that up as a possibility for next year.

Grandma's pick 60
Beaverlodge 50
Sweet million 20
Black Krim 5
Brandywine 5
Sungold 5

Im goin nuts this year. First time growing from seed, and so far so good. Last year my garden was 8' x 16' this year its 40' by 80'.

Legend
Abraham Lincoln
Omar's Lebanese Giant
Hillbilly
Beefmaster
Sungold
Yellow Pear
Chocolate Cherry
Red Currant

Those are the ones I have started already. I plan to go out to my favorite greenhouse to get a few more specimens:

Kellogg's Breakfast
Green Zebra
Stupice
Pineapple

I picked them based on previous experience with taste and disease resistance, and the new (to me) varieties I researched for blight resistance. I plant in a community garden that just can't get rid of the blight. We'll see what survives and for how long.

Third year grower. Plants grown from seed are ready for hardening off and planting if our weather will ever cooperate. We are way past last frost date of April 1.

San Marzano Redorto
Hawaiian Currant
JD' s Special C Tex
Gary'O Sena
Chocolate Stripes
Vorlon
Indian Stripe
New Big Dwarf
Bloody Butcher
Greek Rose

I need to pick up a Black Cherry and a SunGold yet at the farmer's market and I will be done. Oh, my seeds came from Gleckler's and Gary at TomatoFest.

Susan

Wow, I was surprised to see this thread from last year is still going only on our 2013 lists.

I brought back favorites from last year and am also growing new to me varieties this year.

1 Viva Italia
1 Sungold
1 Suggery
1 Kelloggs Breakfast
1 Prudens Purple
6 Big Boy
6 Better Boy
6 Beefmaster
6 Early Girl
6 Juliet
6 Sweet Million
6 Rutgers
6 Jet Star
6 Big Beef

I already bought these seedlongs yesterday. I did have seeds of all sorts of varieties but never got around to starting them.

Kelloggs Breakfast and Prudens Purple are my heirlooms to try this year. Last year I had Cherokee Purple but decided not to bring it back.

Of course I bright back my favorites of Big Boys, Better Boys and Beefmasters. Also the grape tomato Juliets that mostly get a bad rap on this forum but I love them.

Jet Star, Big Beef and Rutgers are ones I wanted to try since reading about them last year.

Hey Rita,
So an update to what I started:

Hi, I just started:
Aunt Gertie's Gold, 6 seeds
Black Russian, 6
Gold Nugget (cherry), only 1
Druzba, 6
Bloody butcher, 6
Brandywine Sudduth, 4
Tasmanian chocolate, 8
Sun sugar, 1
Cuore Di Bue, 11 ( apparently this is different from cuor Di Bue)
Black from Tula, 12
Iditatrod, 9
Orange Strawberry, 6

I have recently started Costoluto Genovese
Tim's Black ruffles.
Black pear
black Krim
Big Rainbow
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Anna's Russian

Kellogg's breakfast was a complete washout. I am also started Sun Sugar and Juliet in the hopes I'll have time to plant them.
Sharon

Hey Rita,
So an update to what I started:

Hi, I just started:
Aunt Gertie's Gold, 6 seeds
Black Russian, 6
Gold Nugget (cherry), only 1
Druzba, 6
Bloody butcher, 6
Brandywine Sudduth, 4
Tasmanian chocolate, 8
Sun sugar, 1
Cuore Di Bue, 11 ( apparently this is different from cuor Di Bue)
Black from Tula, 12
Iditatrod, 9
Orange Strawberry, 6

I have recently started Costoluto Genovese
Tim's Black ruffles.
Black pear
black Krim
Big Rainbow
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Anna's Russian

Kellogg's breakfast was a complete washout. I am also started Sun Sugar and Juliet in the hopes I'll have time to plant them.
Sharon

Entire list would be boring, but I'm growing some small yellow and orange tomatoes this year to see which is best for our conditions:

AAA Sweet Solano
Jaune Flamme
Yellow Perfection
Little Lucky

Already know that AAA Sweet Solano does well here. Yellow Perfection already has some fairly sizable fruits. Also have four orange cherries: Sungold, Sun Sugar, Orange Paruche and Sweet Orange II.

Going with Nyagous again as my "black" tomato, with Black Krim for comparison (didn't bear last year). And trying Indian Stripe, with Cherokee Purple for comparison (also didn't bear last year).

Cherokee Purple
Big Mamma
Super Sauce
Better Boy
Amish Paste
Roma
Black Cherry
Yellow Pear

One or two other types escape me. So far I have 46 in the ground and another 20+ will go in this weekend. Its going to be an exciting year if they produce well.

San Marzano
Vorlon
Mortgage lifter
Celebrity

I started Vorlon and Mortgage Lifter from seed using a Jiffy seed starting kit (the one with the peat pellets) purchased from the Home Depot. I saved the seed from last year's crop. All of the seeds sprouted. I find that my plants grow larger if I start them from seed.

I just finished dividing seedlings and potting them up - we have a later season than most of you. I dont put them in the ground until the end of May.

I have had decent success with the Costoluto Genovese, Early Girl and Pruden's Purple - the rest are new for me.

Costoluto Genovese
Green Zebra
Prudens Purple
Early Girl
Parks Whopper
Goose Creek
Belmonte
Kosovo

Black Krim
San Marzano
Cherokee Purple
Mortgage Lifter
Amish Paste

BK, SM and CP from seed. I don't have much space with full sun, so I am trying very hard to stop myself from buying more plants. But I keep finding myself at garden centers in the tomato plant section!

Beefmaster
Better Bush
Brandywine (Grafted)
Brandywine Pink
Brandywine Red
Bush Big Boy
Bush Goliath
Delicious
Early Girl
Early Goliath
Fourth of July
Giant Belgium Pink
Husky Cherry Red
Monster
Mortgage Lifter (Grafted)
Super Sweet 100
Supersteak
Sweet Million Cherry

The 8-10âÂÂâ seedlings

{{gwi:294611}}

are very happy in the cold frame

{{gwi:294608}}

Oh, very nice set up. They are really doing well.

Tx newyorkrita. Check here if you want to see more pictures of my cold frame.

Just curious - what size pots are they in? Mine are in 4" pots and I'm wondering if I will have to repot.

I keep starting seedlings, but I have a question regarding Costoluto Genovese. I have seedlings, but the general consensus is that it's not so hot on flavor. I am debating whether or not to transplant into the 4" pots. Any thoughts anyone on this tomato?

Sharonie wrote: > Just curious - what size pots are they in?

They are CowPots - 6".

> Mine are in 4" pots and I'm wondering if I will have to repot.

Being in zone 5b, I suggest you to repot. It will be a while until transplanting, and by then, the roots will be too crowded in the 4âÂÂâ pot.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sun, Apr 28, 13 at 20:29

I participated in the seed exchange this year for the first time. I received a wide variety of tomato seeds, but many did not germinate. So this year I am planting PARKS WHOPPER, Beefsteak, Bush Big Boy, early girl and roma.

New to the forum although I have been reading it for the past 2 years. I plan on planting the below (some of which I did last year):

Black Krim
Better Boy
Beef Master
Brandywine Pink
Mortgage Lifter
San Marzano
Super Sauce
Super Sweet 100
Yellow Currant
Yellow Pear
4th of July
Sunchola

I plan on atleast 2 of each type but that may change.

I have definitely over-bought for our needs, but I just can't resist a pretty face!

Better Bush
Better Boy
Tomatoberry Garden
Husky Red Cherry
Tiny Tim
SunGold

This is the first year I've grown any from seed, and I overdid it. I'm about 20 miles from Augusta, GA, on the line between Zone 7a and 8b. Hot summers, often dry, Wanted to see which Heirloom types survive in this setting.

From Seed Savers Exchange:

Cherokee Purple
Black Krim
Black Cherry

From Tomatofest:

Mortgage Lifter (red)
Arkansas Traveler
Opalka
Marianna's Peace
Stump o' the World
Winsall

From Burpee: Brandy Boy

And in a moment of weakness I bought several plants at a garden center: One each of Druzba, Reisentraube, Park's Whopper, Beefmaster, Rutgers, Marglobe, Celebrity, Super Sweet 100, Summer Set and Goliath hybrid.

When I started the seedlings, I found that by far the most vigorous seedlings were the Black Krim, followed by Cherokee Purple and Arkansas Traveler. Don't know if that will translate into better plants, but they were definitely better as seedlings. All of them seem to be doing well in the ground, though.

Tha ammended tomato growing list after thowaways, giveaways and rebuys.
62 plants- All planted! Let the tomato crazies begin.
12 Better Boy
6 Big Boy
6 Beefmaster
6 Early Girl
6 Rutgers
6 Jet Star
6 Big Beef
4 Juliet
4 Sweet Million
3 Supersonic
1 Viva Italia
1 Sungold
1 Sugery

Cherokee Purple
Box Car Willie
Rutgers
Zeke Dishman
Hillbilly
Big Rainbow
Beef Steak
Tommy Toes

Big Boy
Sun Sugar

First it was seed collecting, and then winter sowing, and now tomato varieties... I think I went a little overboard this year. I don't know where I'm going to plant all of these!

Dwarf Emerald Giant
Dwarf Mr. Snow
Dwarf Wild Fred
Summertime Gold
Summertime Green
Iditarod Red
Red Robin
Tiny Tim
Lime Green Salad
Tasmanian Chocolate
Silvery Fir Tree
Indigo Rose
Variegated
Maiden's Gold
Persimmon
Beefsteak
Beef Maestro
Italian Market Wonder
Remy Rouge
Big Rainbow
College Challenger
Purple Calabash
Brandywine
Yellow Stuffer
Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad
San Marzano
Roma VF
Costoluto Genovese
Aztec
Eva Purple Ball
New Big Dwarf
Japanese Black Trifele
Blondkopfchen
and several more that will be sown this weekend.

Most are going to be used for breeding, so I'll only have a single plant of those. The reds were requested for giving away and eating, with the exception of the dwarf reds which will be used for breeding too.

It is always fun to see what everyone is growing. I just realised that I planted my tomatoes in ground this year earlier than I even went to buy my plants last year. Already there is a slight amount of growth on the seedlings.

This is my first year gardening. Yesterday I planted:
4 Supersweet cherry
4 LaRoma II
4 Health Kick
4 Beefsteak

I realized later that at least 2 of them are hybrids, which as I hear does not bode well for saving seed, but oh well. They were cheap and happened to be near where I was grocery shopping which saved me a 3hour trip to the nursery I had intended to go to. I'll have to be a little more prepared next year!